Inter slightly stronger than Bayern

We said before last weekend's games that we were going to need a miracle to win the title, and unfortunately we didn't get it as Chelsea beat Wigan Athletic 8-0.

Whichever team finishes with the most points deserves to win the league, so we offer them congratulations. We knew after about 20 minutes of our game at Old Trafford that things weren't going our way at Stamford Bridge because of the way our fans were reacting.

When we got in at half-time and saw Chelsea were winning 2-0 and Wigan were down to 10 men, we knew there was no chance of anything happening. It was a difficult day for us, but we left our destiny in the hands of others.

Looking back over the season, it's clear we made too many mistakes. We lost seven matches and drew matches we perhaps shouldn't have, and we have to accept that isn't good enough.

Ok, there were certainly things in the season that went against us. Pre-Christmas injuries in defence essentially cost us two defeats against Aston Villa and Fulham.

You could also look at the second goal we conceded against Chelsea at Old Trafford and possibly the goal we conceded against them at Stamford Bridge and say they should have been disallowed.

The fact that we had the Bayern Munich away game before playing Chelsea at home, and that we played Everton away on a Saturday after the Champions League away game against AC Milan, made those games extra difficult.

But at the end of the day, when you lose seven matches you have no one to blame but yourself. Apart from the defensive problems we had before Christmas, the issues and problems we faced probably happen every season, but when you don't make mistakes you get away with it. We just made too many mistakes overall.

I don't really look upon it as a successful season for us. We won the Carling Cup, but we are a club that prides ourself on winning the Premier League and the Champions League.

On the other hand, I don't think we can class it as a wholly unsuccessful season either. It's probably a season that in years to come we can look back on and think it wasn't so bad, but it doesn't feel like that at the moment. It feels like we've underachieved because we didn't win the league.

I don't think any team had an exceptional season. Chelsea will be happy they won the league, but they'll probably be thinking they could have won it with a month to spare if they had performed like they have in previous seasons. They deserve congratulations, but I think all the top teams will think they could have done better.

Chelsea won the league despite losing six games, whereas in previous seasons teams have won the league by only losing only one or two games. So it's been a strange season. Our objective now is to recover this summer and come back hard next season to fight again.

In terms of players for next season, there is no doubt that when Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen got injured we lacked attacking options. But the manager has already signed Javier Hernandez from Mexico, while Federico Macheda was injured for a large part of last season and Danny Welbeck was out on loan, so we do have attacking options.

It's up to the manager to decide if he wants to increase those options, and no one knows his thoughts on that at this point.

World Cup squad

I wouldn't say I'm overly disappointed not to be named in Fabio Capello's initial 30-man England World Cup squad, because although I did think there was maybe a chance I could get in, I was under no illusions how tough it would be after not being named in the squad for a year.

I'm slightly surprised in some ways that there is only one right-back in the entire squad, but I'm probably more surprised Wes Brown isn't in the 30, to be honest.

Capello spoke to Paul Scholes to try and bring him back into the England squad, but Scholes retired a good few years ago from international football and he's not the type to go back on that.

I'm not surprised Capello tried to get him out of retirement because if there is one player I would try and pull out of retirement it is Scholes. Capello maybe got a bit desperate at the last minute and wanted Scholes because he is still probably the best midfielder in England, but Scholes decided to stick to his guns.

European finals

Fulham may have lost the Europa League final, but taking Atletico Madrid to extra-time sums up the type of season Fulham have had in that competition. It's an incredible achievement and they almost did it, but Diego Forlan popped up and scored the winner again - he's done very well since he left Manchester United.

Credit has to go to Fulham just for being there. That won't be any consolation to them, but they have been on an amazing run to get to the final and beat the teams they have. It was good for English football that they were there.

Forlan always had quality, but certain types of players are suited to different types of football. Gerard Pique is another former United player who has excelled in the Spanish league. Certain personalities are suited to different climates, lifestyles and playing styles and there is no doubt Forlan and Pique are more suited to Spanish football.

Forlan's success doesn't surprise me because he always had the quality; I just don't think English football suited him as much. He's a nice lad who works hard and always wanted to do well for United, so I'm happy for him.

Looking ahead, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan will contest the Champions League final on Saturday. Personally I think the Champions League final should always take place on a Wednesday night; I wouldn't have moved it to a Saturday. It's a break from tradition, although I'm sure it will be a carnival day and I just wish we were taking part.

I'm not sure what the game will be like because both Inter and Bayern base their games round counter-attack and defence. It's difficult to predict the result but I think Inter will probably win. I have a feeling Mourinho will win the cup as Inter are just slightly stronger than Bayern in my opinion.

Send your questions to Gary Neville to sunday@timesofmalta.com.